Beyond A Reasonable Doubt
by xxbirdy
Summary: He was unquestionably certain that she was the one he wanted.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay my lovely friends. I'm changing the tense in this one because dear lord and the heavens above the tense I used in Conflicts of Interest was a mess. I'll go back and change the tense in that story as well as soon as I have the time (I say this as I put off studying for a midterm just to write the sequel). I'll also make edits because I know it's not the best that it can be.**

 **Anywho, thanks a bunch for coming back for more! You all inspire me to keep writing!**

 **No pressure.**

 **chapter one.**

 _One day_

 **Name:** Natsume Hyuuga

 **Age:** 25

 **Occupation:** Lawyer – Legal Partner; Assistant Professor – Self-Proclaimed

 _The day she barreled into him, both her and her papers falling to the floor, was the day he knew something had initiated. He didn't know what it was, but the way she asked him "Are you lost?" sent him reeling. The look of pure confusion, of not knowing who he—Natsume Hyuuga—was. The look of humor, and joy, and excitement. Followed by complete and utter awe when their gazes met. The way she subconsciously leaned toward him when she felt the pull of attraction just as much as he did. Except he stoically held his ground, while she seemed so small and so delicate. That, and the grip of her hand left him frozen. Dazed, even. He knew he squeezed her hand a little bit too hard, but what else was he supposed to do? He didn't want her to go._

Natsume watched her as she hummed softly to herself, highlighting legal notes she managed to collect from his coffee table without him noticing. She lay beneath the sheets, her thigh exposed to the cool night air that wafted into the room from his open window. Mikan normally didn't stay this late, Natsume didn't fail to notice, but he wasn't making any moves to bring her attention to the time. In fact, it had been quite some time since the first time they had met—a year, perhaps—and Natsume was sure that tonight was the night Mikan would finally stay over.

You see, the two had yet to label their relationship. Mikan had made it very clear from the beginning that she had wanted nothing _exclusive,_ except she knew Natsume wasn't seeing anyone else and she, now going onto her final year of college, hadn't the time to see other men. Matter of fact, Natsume made sure he himself was part of this reason as well. Mikan's personality did not allow her to reject experience when it was given to her, so Natsume often gave her many of his legal cases to look over, only for her to present to him how she would construct her legal argument. It would serve to be useful, he had told her, when she had to do the same in front of her graduate school professors. He knew, of course, that Mikan would see through his guise yet he found it intriguing that she still accepted the proposal.

And so Natsume would often find Mikan in his apartment, where he would display his affection until she eventually gave in. After which she would lay amongst his sheets and look through the pages of information she had obtained from Natsume's possession. Eventually, though, she looked up. Confused. "What time is it," she suddenly asked, and Natsume cursed silently to himself for this was the part where she would insist on going home until he _took_ her home. What? You thought he'd let her go home alone at this time of night?

But, this time, Natsume wasn't so willing to give. "It's late, Mikan," he said simply. "No."

" _No_ ," she scoffed in response, collecting the sheets so she could throw her legs over the side of the bed. Natsume swiftly reached out and looped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her back into him. "Natsume, we talked about this."

He almost shivered when he heard his name. She had only recently begun to call him by his first name, and he felt like it was a great start to her becoming comfortable with their relationship. "I'm aware," he told her, his lips brushing her shoulder. "But I wasn't listening." Mikan sighed almost threateningly, but she simply pushed him away and stood to find her clothes. "Just start a relationship with me."

Mikan turned, holding the shirt she had found on the floor to her chest, must to Natsume's displeasure. "We _talked_ about this!"

"How many times are you going to say that before—"

"Until you realize it's not going to happen," she hissed.

Natsume's feelings, in this moment, were not hurt in the slightest because it was true: she had told him time and again that a relationship just would not work. Aside from the fact that he is occasionally an assistant professor at work, he had way too many professional contacts with which Mikan was affiliated for things to smooth over well should it get out that they had relations. Plenty of people could argue that Mikan "slept" her way into her internships and legal clearance when… that wasn't the case.

So, yes, Mikan had admitted that there was something more than just a physical attraction between her and Natsume, and Natsume thought that that was all that he could ever want. But, a few months after the fact, that was not the case.

"So, we wait until you graduate to make it public," Natsume insisted, also standing to find his own clothes. He saw his pants sitting a small distance behind Mikan who, when Natsume beckoned, tossed the article of clothing to him. "And by that point I will have already pulled out of all of common connections." Mikan bit her lip. "Or you can hope to find something like this again which, if you could, it would have happened already."

Mikan's shoulders dropped. "Just take me home, Natsume."

Natsume stood his ground. "Stay the night. Stay with me."

Mikan refused to stay, and Natsume took her home. The car ride was painfully silent and terribly awkward, because it was obvious Natsume wanted to initiate some sort of physical contact but he had already made her uncomfortable by expressing everything that he wanted from her that night. When they reached her apartment, her roommate—Hotaru Imai—was leaning over the balcony having a smoke, to which Mikan expressed her anger and shouted at her from the car window. "She's supposed to be quitting," Mikan meekly explained to Natsume before reaching for the car door.

Natsume, on the other hand, let her go. What else was he supposed to do? Make her stay? While he was the type to get what he wanted, he wasn't the type to force something onto Mikan that she didn't want and it was clear that she didn't want a relationship with him. So, yes, he let her go and he waited until she was safely inside the apartment complex's lobby before driving away. And, normally when this happens, Natsume goes home and has a glass of whiskey before picking up the unfinished notes Mikan had left behind but, this time, Natsume sent out a text to his good friend Ruka Nogi to see if he wanted to go to a bar.

 _Adam's_ , Ruka responded, knowing that a drink from their favorite spot in college would help his friend. Natsume approved of the suggestion, and announced that he'd meet him there.

By the time Ruka arrived, Natsume was already a few drinks in. Two to be exact, because he still had to confer with Ruka to see if he was okay with driving him home. Ruka wasn't big on drinking, and often drank club soda whenever he was at the bar, he mostly showed up just to discuss Natsume's problems. Tonight's problem? Mikan.

Natsume voiced every problem he had with the current relationship, even the fact that Natsume wasn't completely driven to sleep with her anymore. Was it great while it lasted? Of course. But Natsume wanted something more. He wanted to take her on dates, to buy her things, to take her to meet his parents, to meet the people she considered family. These were all very intimate things that even Ruka knew Natsume had never wanted to do before and, if he had the means to contact this girl, he would try to scold her for wrapping his good friend around her little finger only to complain that he wasn't bending far enough. Natsume was a lost soul for the majority of his life, and he had finally felt like he had found something concrete… except that it wasn't.

"If she doesn't want a relationship," Ruka began, knowing Natsume wouldn't appreciate what he was going to say next, "then you have to move onto someone that will."

Natsume scoffed into his drink before drinking the last of it. "Right, because I'm very open with women." That was spoken sarcastically as everyone knew Natsume wasn't open with _anyone_.

Ruka shrugged, "Well what can you do? Force her to marry you?" Pausing, Natsume looked at Ruka. "What the— _no_ Natsume you can't do that why are you even considering it?!" Natsume shrugged. "Look. Call her up, tell her it's either you have a relationship or call this thing off."

"Absolutely not," Natsume flagged down the bartender, this time asking for water. "I'd rather have something than nothing."

Ruka laughed through his nose, shaking his head. It was admirable, but also at the same time it was very pathetic. He watched as Natsume opened and closed her contact in his phone, weighing his options.

"You'd rather have something than nothing, huh?"

 **Alright guys, that was super short but I started it and I really needed to finish it. I've been forcing myself to go to sleep at a certain time so I can start myself on a good schedule, but the downside to that is that I start getting tired around nine o'clock and it's five minute til.**

 **So!**

 **I'm going to make sure the next chapter is** ** _extra_** **great and I hope you all loved this one even though it wasn't the greatest I've done.**

 **Thank you all! I love you all!**

 **Goodnight!**


	2. Chapter 2

**well, here we are! I really should start coming up with a good schedule to post stories and I think I'll aim for Friday. It's my least busiest day, save for when summer quarter starts I'll have homework I'll need to do, but this quarter I hope to surround myself with a good group of people who can help in my motivation to get things done at a reasonable time.**

 **In other words, college is stressful but I refuse to ignore you guys!**

 **So here is chapter two for everyone and I really hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much for the reviews so far and please leave any questions, concerns, and/or greetings down below!**

 **Here we go!**

 **chapter two.**

 _tell me what you want_

 **days since seeing Mikan:** four

 **desire to see Mikan:** low

Which was odd, Natsume had to admit, but he knew one thing was for certain: the next time he saw her, he would have to have _the talk_ with her. No, no the birds and the bees because _clearly_ she knew all about them. He meant the relationship talk, the one in which he would ask her what they were and where she saw them going. But, based on the near arguments they had gotten into before, he knew exactly where she saw the two of them going, and that was _nowhere_.

So really what was going to happen was Natsume would call it off, because there is no denying the fact that he wants more. For a while he thought he could handle what they had, but there is something missing. Something _incomplete._ He wants to talk to her each day, he wants to hear how her day went, how it could have been better. He wants to take her out to lunch whenever they had a break in the day, and then surprise her with occasional fancy dinners. Most importantly, he wanted to introduce her to his parents. For quite some time now, Natsume would go home and his family would automatically sense that something was different.

"You have a pep to your step," his sister observed almost suspiciously, but he didn't tell her it was because he had found the woman he could see himself spending the rest of his life with. And so, he simply said his firm was doing exceptionally well, and it looked like he was going to win a big case that was sure to gain publicity once everything was said and done. Which, conveniently, wasn't a lie. But it wasn't the truth.

Most of Natsume's time, now that he was beginning to come to terms with this "break up" of sorts, was spent away from campus so he didn't have the chance of accidentally running into Mikan. It was no secret that she was looking for him, even his former professor contacted him wondering when he would be back around to provide Mikan with a couple of practice cases. He replied with how busy he was as of late, and that it may be within Mikan's best interest to refer her to someone else—but everyone knew that no one was better than he.

 _Especially_ Mikan.

Her texts started out short and innocent, asking him where he was and if he wanted to get together to go over a few cases. Or, more scandalously, if he was in the mood for her to show up later that night. Natsume didn't respond to any of them, which resulted in the loss of her polite attitude. Now the texts were long and they were angry, until she concluded with:

 _Fine. We'll speak on your terms._

Which didn't mean that she would acknowledge his feelings for her, but rather they would speak when Natsume was ready to speak. And, as of right now, Natsume didn't see that happening in the foreseeable future. Rather, he decided to bury himself in work. He had two court cases lined up for next week that he really needed to get a handle on. For one he needed to form an entirely different argument due to information his client withheld until _literally_ the last second, and the second was mostly ready to go he just had to, well, _go._ But it was hard because the second one was also the one that he was going to allow Mikan to sit in on and, if they weren't speaking, that put Natsume between a rock and a hard place.

Should he still invite her to go? Or should he go back on his word and go _without_ her.

He knew that if he did the latter, Mikan would really never speak to him again, even if their relationship ended up working in a platonic sense. He also knew that if he did the former, he would suffer through having to watch her sit and listen in such a perfect fashion as everything she did was perfect. She only ever did things in a nice manicured way that made Natsume want to kiss her, and touch her, and—

His phone buzzed, and at first he thought it was a text but it buzzed again. And again. Which forced him to look down only to find that it was his former professor, professor _. _What in the world does she want_ , Natsume asked himself, checking the time of day. It was definitely during her office hours.

"Hyuuga," he answered, making it seem like he didn't know that it was her.

_ responded with fervor, "Oh cut it, Natsume, I know you've had my number saved for years." And then she said something that nearly had Natsume floored. "Tell me, what happened between you and Miss Sakura?"

Natsume cleared his throat, looking about his apartment for an excuse to get out of the conversation. "What do you mean," he asked, trying to seem oblivious while still airing on the side of indifference. But it was hard when the name of the only woman you've ever cared that deeply about is brought up in conversation.

"You cannot lie to me, boy," she said. "Why do you think I introduced you two in the first place. Tell me, did it work?"

And so Natsume told her everything, mostly because he learned during his freshman year of college that this woman could see through every lie. Second, because he truly wanted her opinion. _ was great a forming telling relationships with her students, to the point that she can describe what they are thinking in any given situation. It's how Natsume got into most of his trouble, and out of it when he called on her for an alibi. But, moreover, _ thought that it would work, and she was hardly ever wrong.

Natsume, after purging his problems, dropped into his armchair like a lost boy who was crushing after the school's popular girl. Who would ever think that he'd end up in such a situation? Natsume sure never did, which was why he was wracking his brain, wondering when it had gotten to this point, and all he could think of was the look in her eyes when he first met her.

"You've got a serious problem here, Hyuuga," was all _ said.

Nastume snorted. "You think?" It wasn't a question. "She needs her space so I—"

"Nonsense!" Natsume flinched at the sudden outburst. "You either go after her or you give up, there is no in between. There are feelings involved here and sacrificing, at the very least, your friendship is never the answer. Especially when she is going through such tough times—"

Natsume leaned in, ignoring every single piece of information but one: "What do you mean _tough times_?"

It should be known that there are very few instances in his life in which Natsume felt like the scum of the earth. These instances sum up to two, in fact. The first was when he accidentally broke his sister's nose when they were kids. The second is when he opened his college acceptance letter without his parents. Now, with what Professor Langely was about to say, those instances summed up to three. And it also explained why Mikan hadn't tried to contact him in a while.

"Well," Professor Langely sighed. "News came in of her grandfather's passing. Well, allow me to correct myself: he isn't exactly her grandfather. As you may know Mikan lived in an orphanage—" Natsume didn't know this but he allowed Langley to continue "—which came to be after she was abandoned on an elderly gentleman's doorstep. One of the eldest kids contacted Mikan and, though they expressed that there is no need for her to return, she has taken it pretty hard knowing that she couldn't. She hasn't come to class for the past couple of days, and it seems like he roommate is out of town so—"

Natsume hung up.

Rather, Natsume hung up and immediately began searching for his jacket, his keys, and his shoes. He made sure his cell-phone was secure in his pocket for when he needed to make a couple of phone calls he thought would be useful in this situation. He grabbed his wallet so that, when he left his apartment and ran into the corner store he passed by every day to get to his car, he bought some chocolate. The most expensive kind available, too, because the occasion really called for it.

He got into his car and, within seconds, he was on the road. He weaved through cars expertly, keeping an eye out for cops but also being a aware that this was _truly_ a time-sensitive issue. He would check his phone often, as if Mikan would miraculously know what Langley had told him and would call for him. Either way, he was before her apartment complex within minutes and it didn't even cross his mind that they had some sort of odd relationship they had to sift through. Because, come on, the woman he loved was hurting and all he wanted was to be there for her, whether that meant as a friend or as something more.

When Natsume rounded the corner of the second floor and found himself standing before her apartment, he didn't hesitate in knocking. In fact, he knocked a total of three times before he realized that she was just going to pretend like she wasn't home. He knew she was home, because he could see through the front window that her bedroom light at the end of the hall was on. So he did what any reasonable man would do, he began to search for the spare key.

To hear Mikan tell it, she was only _slightly_ forgetful. But as someone who had had relations with her for over a year, Mikan barely remembered to put on her shoes let alone grab her keys before leaving the apartment. So, he just knew that there was a spare lying around somewhere and, low and behold, there was! Sitting in the flowerpot that hung just above her doorbell was a spare key, covered by maybe a single layer of dirt. _How original,_ he sarcastically thought to himself as he unlocked the door and tried to make his way in.

Tried because, as soon as he had a peek into her apartment, he was obstructed… by _Mikan._

"Not now, Natsume." She had _definitely_ been crying, that much is true, which was why Natsume shoved harder. "No!"

Natsume sighed, "Would you just move, what's wrong with you?!" He didn't mean it in the sense of _"your grandfather is dead"_ but more of why was she suddenly exhibiting violent behavior. It was kind of threatening. "Langley told me about you grandfather… and I have chocolate."

Mikan relented in her force against the wall, so much that Natsume almost fell into her but he expertly caught himself like he always does. She opened the door wide enough for him to see her disheveled and depressed state, and it took so much strength not to pull her into him right then and there. So he just stared… sadly.

She snorted at him, snatching the chocolate from his hands, and looked him up and down. "Does my appearance shock you? If so, you can leave now. I have the chocolate."

Natsume glared. And where did this attitude come from? It was very unsettling. "Are you okay," he asks almost as a precaution as he steps into her apartment, closing the door behind him. As he bends over to take off his shoes, Mikan _stomps_ over to the living room where she drops onto the couch and begins to tear open her "gift" of sorts.

"Am I okay," she says almost to herself, shaking her head as if it were a dumb question which, in her defense, it was. " _No_ I'm not okay, why would you even ask that?" _That's fair_ , Natsume conceded as he slowly approached the couch. She didn't lash out, which Natsume took to mean that he could sit beside her. Which he did. And then she began to dump all of her emotions onto him: "I have _no one._ I mean, I have Hotaru but she up and left the country for a couple of weeks on an internship and I can't bug her with my feelings. I used to talk to my grandpa—" she choked on her tears which we definitely beginning to form at this point "—but now he's gone, which I knew would happen sometime soon because he broke his hip a few months back and he hasn't been back to his original health since. I just wish I got to say goodbye, or see his face or—" she paused to control her crying. But she couldn't.

"And I wanted to call you," she cried, and Natsume couldn't help but note how beautiful she was even when crying. "But I knew you would take it the wrong way, especially with what's been going on which is definitely my fault but _god_ I felt so alone."

At this point she had completely forgotten about the chocolate which had fallen to the floor. Natsume had to, for he decided to bite the bullet and go for it. Bear his heart and soul. He took her face in his hands and brought her forehead to his. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling her proximity, before he opened them and pulled away slightly to look into her golden-brown irises. "I love you," he confessed, though it wasn't much of a confession at this point as it had been made obvious for quite some time.

She looked away, "Don't make this about you right now—"

"It's not about me," he interrupted. "It's about you. I love you, which means I will do anything and everything that I can for you. I know a few people, just let me make some calls and I can get you on a flight to Japan in a matter of hours. You just have to let me know that that's what you want."

Shaking her head, she explained, "They had a makeshift burial for him yesterday. Plus, that place isn't even my home anymore. My home is here, and grandpa would want me to pursue my dreams. Here."

"Then what," Natsume begged. "How do I help you? You said you wanted to call me, well I'm here. Whatever it is, just ask and I'll do it."

Mikan shook her head, and took hold of his hands. Natsume, defeated, thought that she would push them away and ask him to leave. Like she always did. But he was shocked to find that she had simply lowered them. Instead of her cheeks, he brought them to her waist, and she then cradled his face in her own hands, tracing lines along his jaw. She looked into his eyes and he saw something that wasn't lust, like it was those many times before. This time it was longing. A cure to her loneliness. But, most importantly, realization.

"Honestly," she looked around, but specifically at the space shared between them. "This is more than enough. Can you just—"

Natsume leaned forward, urging her to say it. "Can I just… what?"

She looked into his eyes. Taking them in. Etching them into her mind. And Natsume was already smiling before she said a single word.

"Stay with me."

 **Whoop, there it is!**

 **I really didn't want to throw in the death card there, but what else was going to get Natsume off of his stubborn horse and go see Mikan?**

 **Not to mention, what was going to get Mikan to lower her walls a little bit so she can realize that she wants Natsume to stick around?**

 **Yeah, it sucks, but thanks for the sacrifice Gramps.**

 **Also, thank you all for sticking through this newfound writing journey that I've been having. I'm really happy that I've found it really early in life, versus later.**

 **Stick around for more stories that may or may not be related to this series. Chances are, they won't be but I know some of you want to see their relationship and I also want to see how they would interact as lawyers so…**

 **So long, friends, and I will see you next Friday (wink wink) with a new story!**


	3. 29 June 2019

**more coming soon.**

 **-xxbirdy**

 **29 June 2019**


End file.
